John ballance



(No Model.)

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN BALLANCE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, HARRYHALTERMANN, AND HENRY HALTERMANN, OF SAME PLACE.

. GLASS LETTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,937, dated August29, 1893.

Application filed January 3,1893. Serial No. 456,978. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN BALLANCE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Glass Letters, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to letters, numbers or other characters of glasswith an ornamental rear surface visible through the glass, and of thecharacter hereinafter described, the same forming a new article ofmanufacture.

The letter or other character is cut out of sheet glass and the edgesare either squared or more or less beveled and such letters are cut outand the edges of the glass finished in any desired manner, and where theletter or character is provided with a shade or shadow extending at oneside of the letter proper, the glass is cut out of a size to include theshade or shadow. The back surface of the letter or other character isornamented by applying to the same thin pieces or leaves of pearl. Thispearl is either in its ordinary condition or rendered more or lessiridescentaud of various colors by the action of chemicals as usual inthe preparation of ornamental pearl. The pieces or thin leaves of pearlare of any desired shape with plain or jagged edges, and either placedclose together or at greater or less distances apart, and these piecesof pearl are caused to adhere firmly to the glass by suitable adhesivematerial such as a composition of glue and varnish. Where the pieces ofpearl set closely together the entire letter appears as if made ofpearl, but when desired small pieces of metal or other ornamentalmaterial may intervene between the pieces of pearl, or small picturesmay be caused to adhere to the back surface of the glass between thepieces of pearl and the glass or between the respective pieces of pearl.After the inner surface of the glass letter or character has beenornamented with the thin layer or leaves of pearl as aforesaid, theentire rear surface of the letter is covered with ordinary paint orpaint and glue to entirely inclose the rear surface of the pearl and toeffectually exclude moisture, and it is preferable to coat the paint andglue with sand or finely pulverized mica. The letter or character thusmade has a highly ornamental appearance and the pearl is protected frominjury or 0xidization and the letter is complete and ready for sale, orit may be applied to any suitable backing, such for instance as asign-board or other suitable supporting surface. The letter constructedas aforesaid is a new article of manufacture highly artistic andornamental and it is durable and easy of application wherever suchletters or characters are required.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the appearance of thesurface of the letter. Fig. 2 shows the back thereof, and Fig. 3 is asectional view.

From the foregoing description it is to be understood that the pearl inthin sheets or layers B is to be applied at the back A of the letter,and if desired, the glass of the letter may be extended, as indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 1, so that the paint upon the back of the glassforms a shadow to the letter which is produced by the pearlornamentation aforesaid. There may be two or more letters made asaforesaid on one piece of glass and the outline or boundary of the glassfor the letter or character may be varied as desired.

I do not claim an ornamental picture or design composed partially ofpaint or similar material with thin scales of pearl introduced thereinand caused to adhere to the glass. By my present invention the separateletter of glass is complete in itself and can be associated with anyother letters or characters in composing a sign, and such letters orcharacters have the appearance of being made wholly or partially ofpearl and they are new articles of manufacture.

I claim as my invention As a new article of manufacture, a separateglass letter or character having upon the back thereof thin leaves ofpearl caused to adhere intimately to the glass by adhesive material, andcoated with paint or similar substance for the protection of the back ofthe letter, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 30th day of December, 1892.

GEO. T. PINCK'NEY, A. M. OLIVER.

